TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Sixteen opposition mayors and county leaders launched a coordinated challenge Wednesday (Sept. 10) against Taiwan's central government over disputed revenue allocation formulas. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Taiwan's cabinet head, addressed the mounting controversy at the SEMICON Taiwan 2025 opening ceremony. The Kuomintang (KMT, 國民黨), Taiwan's main opposition party, and Taiwan People's Party (TPP, 民眾黨) leaders, spearheaded by Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), planned a joint afternoon press conference in Taipei to discuss the revised Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財劃法).
Taiwan's Ministry of Finance (MOF, 財政部) recently announced next year's local tax allocations, revealing significant discrepancies between local and central government calculations. Lu plans to coordinate with fellow opposition mayors, including Taipei's Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), New Taipei City's Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), and Keelung's Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑). Their discussions will focus on distribution formulas and subsidy methods for the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program (前瞻計畫), Taiwan's major infrastructure initiative.
Premier Cho defended the Executive Yuan (行政院), Taiwan's cabinet, arguing that earlier veto proposals could have prevented current allocation disputes. He pledged to invite local leaders for resolution discussions within the week, seeking to defuse the escalating political tension. The revised Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures has left NT$34.55 billion (around US$1.14 billion) undistributed, with Lienchiang County facing reduced allocations compared to this year. ◼ (At time of reporting, US$1 equals approximately NT$30.318)
